IIT Bombay student gets fake threat of ‘digital arrest’, loses

A student from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay became the latest victim of a growing cyber fraud known as “digital arrest,” losing a staggering ₹7.29 lakh to a scammer posing as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) employee. The incident, which occurred in July this year, was reported to the Powai police on Tuesday.
According to police officials, the 25-year-old victim received an alarming call from an unknown number. The caller, impersonating a TRAI official, informed the student that 17 complaints had been registered against his mobile number for involvement in illegal activities. The fraudster claimed that the student’s number would be deactivated unless he obtained a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the police. The caller then allegedly transferred the conversation to a “Cyber Crime Branch” official.
“The 25-year-old victim received a call from an unknown number in July this year. The caller posed as an employee of the TRAI and informed him that 17 complaints of illegal activities were registered against his mobile number,” an official of the Powai police station in Mumbai said.
A subsequent WhatsApp video call featured a man dressed in what appeared to be a police uniform, further convincing the victim of the authenticity of the call. This individual accused the student of money laundering and demanded his Aadhaar number. The victim was coerced into making an initial payment of ₹29,500 via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to avoid arrest, the police explained.
The fraudster then escalated the pressure, claiming that the victim was under “digital arrest,” a term coined by cybercriminals to describe a form of online extortion where victims are intimidated and forced to pay money under threat of legal action. The student was told he would face severe consequences and was prohibited from contacting anyone during the “arrest.”
The scam continued the following day when the accused called again, this time demanding a larger sum. The student, feeling trapped, provided his bank account details, which allowed the fraudsters to siphon off an additional ₹7 lakh. After receiving the money, the scammers assured him that the “arrest” had been lifted and that he was safe.
It was only after conducting an online search about “digital arrest” that the student realized he had been scammed. Shocked and distressed, he reported the fraud to the Powai police, who have since initiated an investigation.
The Powai police are now working to track down the perpetrators, who remain unidentified. They are also advising the public to be cautious of similar scams, which are becoming more prevalent in the digital age.